The subject matter disclosed herein relates to steam systems, and more specifically to systems and methods for steam generation and heat recovery.
A steam system may include a steam generation unit to generate steam, which may be used in a variety of equipment such as a steam turbine or for plant process use or both. The steam generation unit may use water from a variety of sources, some of that being make-up water from outside the steam cycle. Unfortunately, the raw make-up water may include various corrosive substances and/or dissolved gases, which can impact the longevity and performance of the steam system. The make-up water also may be at a relatively low temperature (e.g., ambient temperature), thereby requiring a substantial amount of heat to facilitate ridding the water of dissolved gases. Such heat is typically supplied from steam extracted from a steam turbine or diverted from plant process use.
An engine, such as a gas turbine engine, may generate a considerable amount of waste heat. For example, the gas turbine engine may generate waste heat in the exhaust gas, lubricants, coolants, and/or compressed gas, such as a compressed oxidant (e.g., air). Unfortunately, much of the heat associated with these fluids are wasted (e.g., discharged into the atmosphere), thereby reducing the efficiency of the gas turbine engine.